The Hickam Hurricanes program is dedicated to providing opportunity and encouragement for all of its swimmers to make a commitment to the pursuit of excellence. Through the process of striving to be the best that they can be, athletes will acquire life-enhancing attributes such as integrity, character, discipline, teamwork, and sportsmanship. As an organization, we will protect our swimmers by providing a safe, healthy, and positive environment for all of our athletes.

The Vision

Our Program was established to provide a structure within which competitive swimming could help each athlete reach their personal potential and strive to achieve success in their personal goals. The lessons of success in the pool - the discipline, hard work and dedication each athlete gains - will transfer to whatever future goals the athlete might have.

Core Values of the Club are:

• The Head Coach with the support of assistant coaching staff will report to a parent led Board of Directors. 
• It will be supported by swim parents and the military community.
• All programming will be athlete driven, at all times.
• The primary focus of the team is to encourage each and every member to achieve his/her peak individual potential as a competitive swimmer and, at the same time, to develop a love of swimming as a life-long source of fitness and health.
• A swimmer can only achieve his or her highest competitive potential through effort and dedication. This requires significant sacrifices in the time devoted to training and in adopting a single-minded focus on training goals. Parents must also be prepared to support their own swimmers, and work to support the whole team as well as their individual swimmer. Rewards for swimmers come first in the form of success in competition, but also in self-confidence, fitness, time-management skills and self -discipline that will carry over into later life and professions.
• At all times, we emphasize swimmer safety. Athletes thrive in a supportive safe environment free from harassment and harm. All involved with the team – athletes, parents, coaches and board – will do their utmost to uphold Safe Sport guidelines and make sure Hickam Hurricanes is an inclusive welcoming team that keeps the safety of our athletes as their top priority. 

Coaching Staff Guidance

Hickam Hurricanes considers a successful coaching staff to include the following principles in programming, training and leading the athletes in their care: 

• Communication
• Continuous feedback between swimmers and coaches should be encouraged at all opportunities. Establishing clear metrics for advancement and skill attainment, as well as positive corrective feedback, should be the goal of all coaching staff. Swimmers should be encouraged to share personal goals and any issues that may impact their swimming.  

• Supportive Environment
• Children and teens learn best in an environment where coaches do not use belittling or demeaning language about, or to, their athletes. Coaches should provide positive reinforcement and disciplinary measures such as removal from practice, phone calls home and temporary suspensions in lieu of shouting, throwing items or name calling. 

• Military Child Considerations
• Military children undergo unique hardships like frequent moves, evolving friend groups, and distance from friends and family. Hickam Hurricanes encourages coaching staff to recognize the unique challenges the Hurricanes have in swimmer turn over and in difficulties a particular swimmer might face, and seek accommodation where possible and necessary.

• Everyone Counts
• Whenever possible, swimmers should be afforded equity and fairness in access to coaching, competitive opportunities, etc. We consider Hickam Hurricanes to be a success when the standard of all swimmers is improving, no matter how fast or slow.

• Self-Care
• Coaches care a great deal about their athletes and pour emotional and physical energy into the program. We encourage our coaching staff to ensure their own well-being by communicating early and often for parents and the board to assist when challenges crop up. Hickam Hurricanes cares for our coaching staff like we care for our athletes…your needs are among our top priorities.